


Julia Todd's Super Handy Guide to the Arms Trade (and Enjoying One's Second Life)

by BeskHolbien



Series: Julia Todd's Series of Alternates [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), Jormungand (Manga), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Dick Grayson is Bad at Feelings, F/F, F/M, Female Jason Todd, Good Parent Talia al Ghul, Julia doesn't get paid enough for this craziness., Other, Protective Talia al Ghul, Starts around the start of Season Two, everyone is bad at feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeskHolbien/pseuds/BeskHolbien
Summary: Julia Todd was lost after the Red Hood incident,  but an offer from the woman she saw as a Mother led her to acting as the bodyguard for the arms dealing daughter of Deathstroke.What exactly had her life become?
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Julia Todd's Series of Alternates [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975306
Comments: 41
Kudos: 141





	1. PROLOGUE: The Red Hood Incident

**Author's Note:**

> Proving that I should not watch Jormungand and read Jason Todd stories at 2AM. This isn't a crossover, merely inspired by Jormungand. It's based in the Young Justice continuity, and the prologue takes place just prior to season two.

**00:30**

**Park Row, Gotham City**

**October, 31st, 2015 AD.**

Batman found himself back where it all began. Park Row, otherwise known as Crime Alley. If it was _anyone_ else, he would have thought that it was a mere coincidence. But if he was right about who it was beneath the red helmet, it was _very_ deliberate.

Julia Todd. The second Robin. His soldier. His daughter. The one he had found stealing wheels off of the Batmobile. The one that had needed Bruce Wayne as much as she needed Batman. The one that he had failed. The one that was now haunting him.

“H-Hello..” The voice was almost hesitant in tone, but Bruce recognised it all the same. “So glad you could make it.”

Steeling himself, he responded with. “This ends tonight. All of it.”

“That’s the plan.”

And then they were fighting. The Hood tossed her own personal batarangs at Batman, but he dodged them all, landing behind a dumpster and less than a moment later sent it careening towards her. She leapt over it, but after Batman’s thrown bolas wrapped around her feet and slammed her into the ground. She cut the cords with her knife, and scrambled to her feet. Before he knew what happened, Julia was climbing up the ladder of a fire escape.She glanced behind her for a moment to ensure that Batman was following. 

She began running atop the rooftops. Batman knew, deep down, that she was leading him somewhere. But that was not what was important right now. He caught up to her, and made to grab for her shoulder. But she leapt forward, wrenching his mask off of his face, and turned around to face him again.

“Look at you.” Julia chuckled, and tossed his mask back to him. “I suppose we should keep this fair, no?”

She reached up, and pressed something at the back of her helmet. She dropped it to her feet, and let her dark hair fall down. It was shorter than it had been when she had been Robin, Bruce noted. Now, it only came down to just past her neck.

“Julia.”

“ _Father._ ” She spat the word as a curse.

“...I don’t want to fight you.”

“Really now?” She smirked. “All evidence to the contrary.”

“Please.” Batma- _Bruce_ said. “I can help you. I know what happened.”

“Oh? I take it you got to talking with Ra’s then.” Julia stated. “I suppose it _alleviates_ a lot of your guilt then, to think that a dip in his little fountain of youth is what turned me rabid?”

“That is what the Pit does, Jules..” Batman said softly. “The Pit causes madness.”

“The Pit gave me _perspective!”_ Julia snarled. “That I would never be good enough! Or smart enough! Or strong enough! Or _DICK GRAYSON_ enough for you! For any of them!” 

“..You cannot truly believe that.” Batman replied .“The Team. The League. _The family...._ they all mourned you...they all miss you..”

“Then _where are they?_ ” Julia retorted with a sneer. “They aren’t here. Which either means you’ve not told them...or they simply don’t give a damn.”

“Jules-”

“I have heard _ENOUGH_ out of you!” She yelled, and bolted across the rooftop and leapt across the street, smashing through the window of a building the other side. Once more, Batman found himself chasing after her again.

He landed into the floor behind her, and soon they were brawling again. But this time, Batman did not hold back. He could not afford to. This time, Julia was not as even a match for him. He slammed her against a wall, and tried not to seeth. “Enough! It is over!”

And with a single kick, he sent his daughter flying through the wall, the thin and rotting wood giving way easily. She let out a pained groan, and hauled herself back to her feet. She glanced around, and a thin smile appeared on her face. Bruce didn’t question it. Not now.

“...I know I failed you.” He said, in an almost gentle tone. “But I tried to save you, Jules. I’m trying to save you now.”

“Is...Is that what you think that this is about? That I died? I don’t know what clouds your judgement worse..your guilt or your damn... _antiquated_ sense of morality.” His daughter let out a harsh bark of laughter. “Bruce..I _failed_ the mission when I died. So frankly, I don’t understand why you feel so... _guilty._ ‘The mission is all that matters’, remember?”

And he did, and tried not to wince. That had been his credo when she had been Robin. _The mission was all that mattered._ And in that instant, he realised something that, were he anywhere else, would have made him weep.

_Julia had died believing herself a failure._

“Regardless.” She continued, and kicked down a side door, revealing the Joker, tied to a chair. “Let us not waste any more time.”

The Joker looked around, his smile growing by the second before he broke out into his trademark hideous laughter. “You gotta give the girl points! She came all the way back from the dead to make this shindig happen! Ooh! Ooh! Who’s gotta camera?! Get one of me and the kid first. Then you and me. Then the three of us. And then one with the crowbar. Then--aaack!”

Julia sent her fist into the back of the Joker’s head, sending him to the floor. She slid a gun out from her waistband and pressed it against the Joker’s skull. Even in the gloom, Batman recognised it as a M1911 pistol. Another deliberate move on her part, Bruce noted. It had been an M1911 that Joe Chill had used to murder his parents that fateful night.

“Oh shut up before I shoot you in the damn head.” She seethed. “God knows I’d be doing the world a favour.”

“Party pooper.” The Joker grumbled. “No cake for you.”

She stood up, shifting her aim from the Joker to the Batman.

“I could have accepted things if you’d beaten him to within an inch of his worthless life.” Julia told him, quietly now. “If you’d _actually_ put him in hospital over what he did to me. ‘The One Rule’ is important enough to you and the League that even I can forgive you for not killing him out of vengeance.”

“ _But you didn’t!_ ” She hissed. “You just...slapped him in cuffs and carted him to Arkham. Like you always do. Like it was just another night at work. L-Like my death….meant nothing to you. I-If..if it’d have been you he’d taken...if he had killed you...I would’ve done nothing but search the planet for this... _filth..._ and sent him off to hell!”

“...You don’t understand.” Batman began, allowing sadness to fill his voice. “I don’t think you’ve ever understood.”

“..W-What?” She asked, her tone now filled with desperation and rage “That...that your moral code just won’t allow for that? It’s too hard to cross that line? Even once?!”

“...It would not _be_ ‘just once’!” Batman fired back “ _That_ is the issue. There isn’t a day that passes that I don’t think about subjecting him to every horrendous tortures he’s dealt out to others and then _end him._ ”

Joker grinned. “Aww….you _do_ think about me! I’m touched.”

“...But if I do that.” Batman ignored the clown. “If I go down into that place. I’ll never come back. I’ll never be able to stop.”

“ _Why?”_ Batman winced at the pleading tone his daughter spoke in now. “I-I’m not talking about Penguin...or Scarecrow..or...or _Dent!_ Just him! I’m not even asking you to _kill him!_ I’m asking you to show that I actually mattered.”

“I can’t do what you are asking.” Batman’s gaze narrowed. “As much as it pains me to admit.. _Joker_ is the victim in this instance.”

“AND THERE IT IS!! _”_ Julia let out a half mad laugh and gestured to the Joker. “You’re trying to save _him. From me!_ ”

That set the clown off. He laughed and laughed like he’d heard the funniest thing he’d ever heard. The strange thing was, Batman wasn’t sure that it _wasn’t._ After all, how often did someone choose to side with the murderer over the person they murdered?

“I can help you.” Batman told her. “Let the Joker go, and let me help. _Please._ ”

In response, Julia tossed the gun she was holding at his chest and pulled a second one from her waistband. She grabbed the Joker by the collar and leveled it against his head. “Oh no no. You are _not_ having it your way today. This is what is going to happen. You are going to choose which one of us dies. The Joker...or Myself.”

“I won’t-”

“I’m going to blow his deranged brains out.” She snarled. “So, if you want to stop me...y-you’ll make the choice. And kill me.”

Batman looked between his daughter and the gun, and turned away, tossing aside the handgun she had thrown at him as he did so.

“I-Is this your choice?!” Julia roared after him, but Batman ignored her and continued to walk away. “R-Really?”

There was silence, and Julia let out a scream, and fired at her father. But he threw himself to the side, and tossed a batarang that embedded itself into the barrel of her gun. It exploded, causing her to let go of the Joker and stumble backward, clutching her wounded hand to her.

“Hahahaha!” The Joker cackled with glee. “I can’t believe you got her! You expert, rootin’-tootin’ eagle-eyed goth-loving marksman! I love it! You found a way to win!”

“...always him.” The detonator was in her hand before Julia even knew what she was doing. 

“Jules.” He began. “It’s okay. Let me-”

“It’s _always_ **_HIM!_ **” She stabbed down on the button with her thumb, and the telltale ticking of a bomb countdown filled the room. Batman looked to the fireplace, where the bombs were, only for the Joker to launch himself at him, taking him to the floor and wrapping his fingers around his throat.

“No! Don’t spoil it, this is better!” He laughed. “I’m the only one who’s gonna get what he wants tonight! Bing bang boom! We’ll all go out together, don’t you just _love_ a happy ending?!”

Batman punched the clown off of him, and leapt over to Julia. He grabbed her by the collar and bodily dragged her towards the fire escape door, only for her to yank herself away from him.

The last thing Bruce Wayne heard before the bomb exploded was his daughter’s voice speaking in an utterly defeated tone.

“You made your choice, Bruce.”

  
  


* * *

It was dark and dusty and quiet when the ringing in Julia’s ears finally died down. The bomb was small enough to not flatten the entire building. She wasn’t _crazy._ But it was powerful enough to render the room she had hidden it and Joker in and everything above it little more than a pile of rubble.

She could hear a commotion somewhere above her, but she ignored it. Her father had made his choice. And it hadn’t been her. _Why hadn’t it been her?_

Maybe Talia had been right. Perhaps remaining with the League of Shadows really would have been the right path for her. They had brought her back to something resembling sanity. Training her. Housed her. Giving her a sense of purpose.

She supposed it didn’t matter anymore.

Julia Todd let out a sigh, and surrendered to the darkness.


	2. Aftermath: Talia

**06:31**

**Infinity Island, somewhere in the Caribbean Sea**

**November 4th, 2015 AD.**

One of the few sights that Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's al Ghul and Heir Presumptive to the Leadership of the League of Shadows, actually ensured she saw at every opportunity was sunrise on Infinity Island. To stand and witness the very moment night turned to day, the majesty of it all..

Alas, that was _not_ what she was seeing now. Now, she was sitting at the bedside of her pseudo-daughter, Julia Petra Todd. Listening to the steady rhythm of the machines that were monitoring her vital signs, and watching as she remained as though peacefully sleeping. Far more peaceful than she usually was.

By some miracle, Julia had survived the building collapse and for the second time in her life, had needed to crawl and claw her way out of her own grave. She had somehow made her way to one of the League's safehouses in Gotham, and remained conscious (if barely) long enough for a team to arrive and evacuate her. Talia didn't yet know how she had managed it, but wasn't going to complain. Her daughter was alive, and right now, that was all that mattered. The details, the hows and the whys, they could wait. They weren't important now.

She should never have let Julia go. Whilst she had ever been headstrong, all Talia would have needed to do was ask her _not_ to go. To remain with the League and become who she was meant to be. To fight for a cause that actually mattered on a global scale, rather than to try and save a single city that honestly was unworthy of her efforts.

Julia... _Jules_ had gone to that hellhole of a city to settle things once and for all. To face down her murderer and father both. To prove to herself that Bruce, _that her father,_ had actually cared about her. That her time as Robin had mattered. That what she had done with the Justice League had been worth it. That _Gotham_ had been worth it.

And what had she to show for it now? Burns, bruises and broken bones. Scars and smoke inhalation. That wasn't even touching on what would almost certainly be a myriad of mental scars. Julia had already had an issue with self worth, Talia was not looking forward to discovering what damage that Batman, that _Bruce,_ had inflicted.

But Julia also had the concern of not only Talia and Damian, but of the League of Shadows. _Al-Qari_ was what they knew her as. _The Reader._ Not Robin. Not Red Hood. Not even Jules (only she and her dear Damian could call her that, a most precious gift indeed). _The Reader._ And the League now feared for their _Reader._ They _liked_ her. She was pragmatic, rational and reasonable... _most_ of the time, at least.

Damian had visited at every opportunity, or rather, whenever his lessons allowed. In the short time that they had known one another, the pair had become close. Closer than Julia and Grayson had ever been. Not that that was a great challenge. If what her daughter had said was true, all Grayson had ever truly given her was that _vile_ nickname: ' _Replacement',_ along with a host of confidence issues.

Even _Father_ had checked in at one point. It had been shortly after Julia had been brought in. He had looked her over in silence, before giving the doctors a very succinct command of " _Save her."_ before departing the room once more. Talia hadn't seen him since. Oddly enough, Father and Julia, when they were not clashing over moral issues, got on surprisingly well. More than once, Talia had found them discussing literature at some ungodly hour of the morning.

That thought brought a memory to the forefront of her mind. It was from a few months before Julia had left on her mission. They had been sparring, and Father had corrected Julia's stance. The Gothamite had thanked him with genuine sincerity. It had confused her somewhat, given her daughter's reputation...

* * *

" _..You are infamous in Gotham for your…._ colourful _language." Talia said. "Yet you speak to my father with nothing but the utmost respect. Might I enquire as to why?"_

" _Oh, that's easy." Her daughter had been smiling. "See, Ra's is bloody terrifying, and anyone with eyes or even a speck of sense can see that. They can also tell that he's an incredibly powerful and dangerous individual. Plus, I know he has an army of badass assassins at his beck and call."_

" _All true." She had conceded._

" _Given all that." Julia grinned. "Isn't the reason for my lack of cursing obvious? I'll always speak to him very_ fucking _politely."_

_Talia swatted the back of her daughter's head with a good natured smile. "You know how I feel about foul language, Julia."_

" _...Sorry Ma."_

* * *

......She smiled fondly at the memory. Julia had progressed well under her care indeed. Less of a wild child, more of a brilliant, if troubled, young woman. The perfect Right Hand for her son. That was sadly the only flaw Ubu had. He never spoke out. Never disagreed. Julia would, if Damian was wrong. Where or whom she had got that from, Talia did not know.

It was that moment that Talia al Ghul came to a terrible, and saddening conclusion.

_Bruce was no longer her Beloved._

How could he be? What kind of man chooses to save the life of his daughter's murderer over his daughter? The al Ghul's had their problems, more so than most families. But when it came down to it, they were _family._ Nyssa, Arkady, even Dusan and his little daughter. All had their issues and complaints and feuds, but none would ever make the choice that Bruce had.

That was why Nyssa was currently headed to Gotham _._ If Julia's father refused to do what had to be done, then her aunt would do it in his place. The Joker would be dead within the week. It would be entirely too clean an end than the clown deserved, but it would be an end nonetheless.

Talia hoped that would be enough for her daughter.


	3. Aftermath: Bruce

**05:45**

**The Batcave, ‘CLASSIFIED’ (Beneath Wayne Manor, Gotham, Connecticut)**

**November 4th, 2015 AD.**

In a heavy, nearly suffocating silence, Bruce Wayne sat alone, slumped in a chair and mired in thoughts about recent events. He would need to inform the League of the Red Hood’s identity, but right now, he was exhausted both physically and mentally. More so than he had been in years.

Alfred was keeping himself busy, as if the elderly man was desperate to do  _ anything  _ other than come to terms with what his Granddaughter, or at least the closest thing he had to one, had become..had endured. Bruce didn’t blame him. He himself would probably end up doing something similar when he felt less..empty.

He let out a deep and weary sigh, and cast his thoughts back. To better times. And back to his relationship with Julia Todd. With his daughter. A relationship all but defined by what was now  _ four  _ phrases.

**_“It’s safer to be a boy in the alley.”_ **

It was those words, Bruce thought as he lingered in the gloom of his sanctum, that had sealed Julia’s place in his heart and home. Not because of what the words implied, although they themselves were horrific..but because of how indifferent, how nonchalant they had been spoken. As though it was a mere  _ fact of life  _ that ‘it was safer to be a boy’ in Crime Alley, and not the abominable truth it actually was. If it hadn’t been for her aforementioned statement bringing his view on it down, Bruce would probably have been impressed. It took a lot to pull the wool over his eyes, and she had done it at the age of twelve.

But he supposed that was how she had even survived for so long.

It had been a full fortnight after she had started living with him that Julia had opened up to him. She had used the pseudonym ‘Jay Todd’ before, and had packed a bag, ready to run if he had had a negative reaction. It had taken another  _ year  _ for that bag to be unpacked, as if she was ready to leave at a moment's notice.

It had been Alfred that had told him about it, and Bruce had pretended not to notice. To let her have a small victory. 

**_“The mission is all that matters.”_ **

God, did he hate those words in hindsight.

Those words had got his daughter killed.

He had not been in a good place after Dick had left. True they had parted on good terms (and remained so until Julia had claimed the mantle of Robin), but the cave and the manor had not been so empty in years. So he had thrown himself into ‘work’, and for a time,  _ Bruce Wayne  _ had become the mask and Batman the real face. His creed had turned from ‘The Mission First’ to ‘The Mission is all that matters’.

And where had Julia been? Where had his daughter been when Alfred threatened to leave over his new creed? When the League had threatened to bench him?

_ Right at his side, backing him all the way. _

Granted, a large part of that was given her relationship, or lack thereof, with Dick and his team. But she backed him nonetheless. She’d even gone back to patrol Crime Alley…. _ Park Row... _ to collect information from the people there. From the petty thieves and pickpockets and the desperate..

It had made him... _ uncomfortable.  _ A crime was a crime, at the end of the day. It shouldn’t matter the reason. But the information Julia had acquired through her methods had saved countless lives, and no doubt turned a few around. She was one of them, and they knew it. They  _ trusted  _ her.

He had called her out on it once. But she had only grinned cheekily as she replied with  _ ‘The mission is all that matters, Bruce’.  _ He had actually laughed at that one. It had been  _ her  _ creed too, after all.

They had worked well together. Dick hadn’t needed a father, but Jules had.  _ Good God _ did she need a decent father figure. The media had  _ questioned  _ their relationship, with one particularly unpleasant journalist calling his adoption of her a ‘publicity stunt’. Jules’ response had, given how vitriolic and curse filled it was, gone down in the annals of Gotham’s history. And  _ that  _ had had him  _ howling  _ with laughter.

Then  **_Bosnia_ ** happened.

It should have been a simple mission. The Joker had ‘acquired’ Uranium, and was selling it to Queen Bee. The League had sent the Team in, although he had gone after Joker himself.

The uranium had been secured, but Julia had been taken. Four days later, and he had been too late to save her. The only mercy he had received that day had been that Jules’ remains were intact.

It had looked as though she was asleep.

Joker had  _ surrendered  _ an hour afterwards, and it had taken every ounce of mental fortitude not to beat him to death with his bare hands. The clown had mocked and cajoled him, urging him on to  _ do it. _

But to taint his daughter’s memory with blood.. _ the Clown’s  _ blood..was unacceptable. 

Deep down, he always suspected that their creed would come back to bite him. And Julia’s crusade had proven that suspicion true.  _ Eight weeks.  _ It had taken her eight weeks to do everything she had. The criminal element would no doubt undergo massive changes in the coming days and weeks as gangs and organisations shifted around and came to the realisation that the Red Hood was gone.

Then all hell would break loose.

  
  


**_“You made your choice, Bruce.”_ **

They had damn near broken him. The defeated betrayal had been clear in her voice.

He had tried to save _ her  _ and not the blasted clown, so why had she torn herself away? Had she really feared his reaction to her actions that much? Had she really preferred death over him? Had she really been so consumed by resentment and vengeance? Or had she thought it suitable punishment for failure,  _ again _ ?

He hoped not.  _ Prayed  _ even. That would be far too cruel. 

  
  


He let out another sigh, and moved to his communicator. He swallowed, and called his eldest child. Nightwing now split his time between the Watchtower and Mount Justice, and Bruce was uncertain as to where he considered home now.

But family was what was important now. The mission..

The mission could wait.

“Come to the cave, and bring Tim with you.” He said in as even a tone as he could muster. “...I need to speak with my sons.”

And as he lowered himself back into his chair, the last phrase was thundering in his ears. The words of a nervous fourteen year old girl. The words of someone that had lowered every layer and emotional barrier and asked what was probably the hardest and most important thing she ever had:

**_“H-Hey, Bruce?.....can I call you dad?”_ **

* * *

**Some of you will notice that this is now part of a series. This is mainly due to the fact that I have had a _load_ of ideas about Jules in different scenarios, that would need to be in different timelines. So keep an eye out, and you might see the first of them soon.**


	4. Aftermath: Dick and Damian

**08:31**

**Wayne Manor, Gotham, Connecticut**

**November 4th, 2015 AD.**

Richard John Grayson hadn’t spent this much time at Wayne Manor in years. Granted, it had been a long time since he had been injured in such a way that an extended stay was warranted, but if he was being honest, he found the building..to be just that. A building, not a home.

True he was on good terms with Bruce, Alfred and Tim, but his apartment in Blüdhaven was home now. It had been time to move on and move out. True, Blüdhaven was still part of Gotham, but to have his own place away from Bruce’s... _ Bruceness.. _ it was surely nothing less than heaven.

As he lounged in the infirmary, his thoughts turned to the person that had put him there. To the person that he had tracked for the last two months.

_ Jules. _

It had been Jules underneath the helmet. It had been Jules that had been slowly taking over the underworld. It had been Jules that had nearly blown him up and left him bedridden for a week. It had been Jules that had driven Bruce to despair once again. Her death had damn near broken the man. To have her come back to life, with nothing but hatred in her heart? That was almost too cruel to contemplate.

His little sister, though he had never really called her as such, had endured so very much. A torturous death at the hands of a psychotic, followed by what had had to have been a traumatic resurrection. It...would have been easy, for an unscrupulous force to twist her mind and opinions after that, right? 

That had to be the reason for her actions, right?

Dick wasn’t sure how he’d deal with it being anything other than that. 

As for Tim. It was hard to tell what he was feeling. He had idolized Julia. Hell, it had been her death that had drawn him into their family. Bruce’s month long cycle of borderline self-destruction had nearly torn them apart until the third Robin had all but dragged them into therapy.

  
  


He would have to tell the team. True, the older members of the team had..not exactly been on the best of terms with her. But that had more to do with them siding with him than anything else.  And given the level of  _ guilt  _ they had clearly felt when she had died...They deserved to know.

_ And Kaldur could keep an ear out for her on his end of things. _

He would find his sister, and he would bring her home. And he would protect her this time.

That was what big brothers did, after all.

* * *

**08:31**

**Infinity Island, somewhere in the Caribbean Sea**

**November 4th, 2015 AD.**

Ibn al Xu'ffasch, more commonly known by the name Damian Wayne, was unhappy.

It was a distinct feeling from displeasure, he had noted, and far worse a feeling in his opinion. Displeasure usually lasted for a few hours, coming and going rapidly. Unhappiness could settle in deep and last for days.

Julia had been brought back from Gotham.  _ Been brought back.  _ Not returned. That had been enough to get him concerned. And that concern had turned into full blown worry when she had been taken to the infirmary in a comatose state.

One of the doctors had suggested that Julia had simply stopped fighting and was giving up. Damian had stabbed the man in the thigh for his foul lies. His Sister wasn’t one to ever just give up. His Sister was strong! His Sister would endure  _ anything  _ that was thrown at her. No matter what.

Unlike his other tutors, his Sister had helped him back up to his feet, and whilst she had always told him ‘Good job’, she had gently corrected him, and advised on how to right the things he had failed to succeed in. Not, as his other instructors had done, and told him ‘Again’ and to get back to his feet.  _ She  _ had actually advised and demonstrated new techniques, even the bastardized version of Thanagarian martial arts she had learned from Shayera Hol! (But not the more advanced techniques. Sister had been  _ quite  _ insistent on his being older. He was five! He could handle it!)

Aunt Nyssa had departed the very day Julia had arrived back, staying only long enough to tell the comatose younger woman to ‘Be well’, and that ‘The Clown would pay’. Mother had agreed to whatever it was her sister had planned, and even granted her a small strike team with which to do it. Damian doubted that his Aunt would  _ need  _ help, whilst she was rarely around, anyone that could  _ regularly  _ spar with Lady Shiva on even terms was capable enough on their own.

Speaking of, Mother had been speaking with someone else. Someone new. Dressed in an immaculate grey suit and flanked by a pair of heavily armed bodyguards, the woman had shoulder-length white hair and porcelain skin with a shark-like grin constantly on her face. But  _ her eyes.  _ Icy blue and cold and utterly devoid of emotion. Those eyes scared even him.

Damian hadn’t bothered to try and listen in after The Icy-Eyed Woman had spotted him in the rafters. She had offered him a smile and the words “I see you up there, Little Bird.”, and then Mother had glared at him. At that point, he had retreated to his usual hiding place. His uncle’s room.

Uncle Arkady didn’t really do much, given his age. The old man was wheelchair bound, and content to simply sit on his balcony and watch the sea and sky. He had been Grandfather’s ‘man in the colonies’, prior to America’s independence from the British. After that, he had remained in the newborn nation, acting as his father’s main contact. Alas, due to the isolation from the League,  _ from his family,  _ he had done... _ unacceptable  _ things. All in the name of furthering his Father’s works. Fifty years of hard labour, and twenty-five years of literal mindless wanderings later, and Arkady Duvall was finally brought home. And whilst he couldn’t even do paperwork like Damian’s other Uncle, Dusan, he was nonetheless treated as part of the family.

He always gently patted Damian on the head when he visited, and sometimes snuck him the hard candies when Mother wasn’t looking. Just  _ where  _ the old man had acquired said candies, Damian never asked.

He offered his usual greetings as he crossed the room and over to the balcony, and sat himself down next to his Uncle’s wheelchair. And soon enough, he began to get his thoughts in order.

His sister had been betrayed by the one person that she should have been able to trust implicitly. Damian was coming to the conclusion that Father was not as flawless as many had claimed.

For now though, he would keep his vigil (training permitting, of course). His sister had always been there when he needed her, it was time for him to be there when  _ she  _ needed  _ him. _

That was what little brothers did, after all.


	5. The Offer: Mother and Daughter

**16:31**

**Infinity Island, somewhere in the Caribbean Sea**

**November 4th, 2015 AD.**

* * *

Julia Petra Todd woke to the sound of gulls and the sea. A pleasant breeze wafted the smell of salt and sand and nature Into her room, having long since drowned out the foul antiseptic stench that had been there.

_ God, did she hate that smell. _

She tried to sit up and look around, but the excruciating pain that tore through her as a result caused her to abandon that plan. She slumped back against her pillows, and let out a frustrated sigh. It was rarely a good sign when moving at all caused agony.

_ Fuck. _

He had really done it, hadn’t he? Bruce chose the Joker over her.  _ Dad had chosen the Joker over her.  _

A small part of her, the pitiful remnants of the girl she once was, felt utterly betrayed. Had she not given enough? Fought hard enough?  _ Mattered  _ enough? But a larger, crueler part of her wasn’t surprised, however.  _ Of course Bruce chose the Joker.  _ It was something that had always confused her.  _ Why?  _ Why was it that  _ they,  _ the criminals... _ the enemy,  _ came first?  _ Always came first? _

Was it any wonder she had resorted to what she had? To the extent she had? It had taken her  _ two months  _ to nearly solve the problem of Crime in Gotham. True, it involved many methods that Dad...that Bruce would frown on. But what good was keeping to a code, if it solved  _ nothing.  _ What good was keeping one's hands clean, if it led to more deaths?

In any other circumstances, her defeat would mean the end of things. The end of her Gang. The end of her protection. The end of her plan.

_ But she had been a Bat, and she had been trained by the League of Shadows. She had left contingencies in place.  _ The Alley would be safe, and things would continue. True, it might not be as effective without her presence, but what she had started couldn’t be stopped now, not without a concerted effort. 

Gaining control of the crime in Gotham had been step one. Step two would have involved  _ choking  _ crime to death. Making it uneconomic to even  _ be  _ a criminal in Gotham. The money gained through their activities would be funneled back  _ into  _ the Alley, lifting it out of squalor and making it  _ Park Row  _ again, thus ensuring its people... _ her people  _ no longer needed to resort to crime just to survive.

And when crime finally got down to levels manageable by the Police? The Red Hood Gang would slink back into the muck and the mud and the mist, as if it had never existed. Yet another Gotham myth, like Solomon Grundy or the Court of Owls. 

_ Be good to kids, or the Red Hood will come for you. Don’t beat on the working girls, or the Red Hood will come for you. Don’t deal drugs, or the Red Hood  _ **_will_ ** _ come for you... _

She let out a soft chuckle at the thought. It was a good dream, if a tad overly ambitious. It hadn’t been the  _ initial  _ plan.  _ That  _ plan had been comparatively simple. Go to Gotham. Capture Joker. Force Bruce to choose between them. Depending on his choice, she’d either return to Dad..or return to Ma. Simple.

But it hadn’t taken long for her to change her mind. For her to see children fighting over scraps in Crime Alley. For her to see the homeless and the orphans and the working girls still struggling as they always had. Still abandoned. Still forgotten.  _ Still ignored.  _ And all her plans changed. All of that  _ had  _ to change. Thus had been born the newest Red Hood, Crime Lord Extraordinaire!

It..had disturbed her, the killing. At least at first. Later on, when it came to ‘dealing with’ the more vile individuals though, she let her anger and fury take hold. She hadn’t enjoyed it, but she hadn’t hesitated.

_ Then I had to go and screw it up. _

“ _ Habibti? _ ” A voice drifted into the room ahead of its owner actually entering. “Is that you awake?”

“Talia-.. _ Ma. _ ” She corrected herself with a smile as she watched Talia al Ghul settle into the seat next to her bed. It was sadly a strange thing, to actually  _ have  _ a mother figure that either wasn’t a waste of space and-or air...or a member of the Justice League. “...Guess you were right. I shouldn’t have gone to Gotham..”

“Mhm,” Her mother hummed in agreement.

“Sorry for worryin’ you...are you mad?”  _ He would be mad. _

“..I am not Bruce, Julia.” Talia told her with a calm smile before leaning in and embracing her gently. “Yes, I am unhappy that you endangered yourself. Yes, I am unhappy that you were injured. But my unhappiness can wait until you are healed. Your health is what matters in this moment, my dear.”

Julia let out a soft, shaky sigh as she enjoyed the comfort of her Mother’s arms. “...Th-Thanks Ma.”

“Nyssa has departed for Gotham.”Talia told her softly as she broke away. “To do what your father will not.”

Julia let out a soft gasp of surprise. “..But..doesn’t she, y’know,  _ hate  _ killing? More than Da-.. _ Bruce _ ?”

“Just because she disapproves of Father’s methods does not mean she disapproves of his end goal. And just because she dislikes killing does not mean she is not one of the most talented operatives that the League has ever had. Joker will be dead within the week, you have my word.”

“Oh.” There was not much one could say to that. Julia allowed herself a contented smile at the thought. The  _ monster  _ would soon be gone. Forever. Perhaps that knowledge would let her sleep easier, and not be plagued by nightmares. Of the clown. Of his crowbar. Of the  _ tick-tick-ticking.  _ Of the brief blast of heat….

“Habibti?”

She blinked away her thoughts, and turned her gaze to Talia. “It’s nothin’ Ma. Is there somethin’ else?”

Talia was silent for a few moments, as if making up her mind on something. Eventually, she spoke.

“The daughter of one of our.. _ associates _ is looking for a bodyguard.” Talia explained. “There will be travel and trouble in equal measure. I will not lie and tell you that it will be safe, but I give you my word...it will never be boring, even for an instant. Would you be interested when you are healed?”

_ Well fuck it, what else do I have to do with my time?  _

“...Who is it I’d be working for?”


	6. The Offer: Uncle and Aunt

**06:53**

**Infinity Island, somewhere in the Caribbean Sea**

**November 8th, 2015 AD.**

Julia found herself sitting on a bench in one of the many courtyards within the League compound, enjoying the early morning gloom and the accompanying breeze. Once, she had taken early morning runs around Wayne Manor, the cool predawn air waking her up and focusing her mind. She wasn't yet up for _that_ sort of exercise, but at least she was out of bed at last.

Damian had thrown himself at her when she finally managed to leave the hospital bed, uncaring that he had done so in front of a number of Shadows, _and his grandfather._ Ra's himself had been quite clearly pleased with the speed of her recovery. But had, in a not unkind tone, told her to not rush back into training. To be healed. To be at her best again.

It was _bizarre._ To see the infamous master of assassins acting all... _grandfatherly._ She had seen him acting in such a manner towards Damian on occasion, but never to her. She kinda liked it, truth be told.

For now though, she closed her eyes, and enjoyed the peace and quiet while it lasted. More tests, more sitting and doing nothing. Healing might be necessary, but _by god_ was it boring as hell. Although it did give her time to think over Talia's offer..

"You seem troubled, child."

Julia's eyes snapped open, and soon fell upon the eldest of Ra's al Ghul's children. From what Julia understood, Dusan al Ghul effectively ran the day-to-day operations of the League of Shadows, handling the paperwork, bribes, funding and the like. He was trained in combat, although that was primarily for his own self defense. He had a daughter, Mara al Ghul, who was A: Utterly adorable and B: The closest thing Damian had to an actual friend.

The man often wore a pristine white robe, likely to match with his albinism. Julia personally found his 'pure' appearance to be a little off putting, given he was a fully trained Shadow with decades of experience.

"Ah..forgive me, Master Dusan." She inclined her head in apology. "I didn't hear you approach."

"You are forgiven, _al-Qari._ " The man's use of her 'League Name' brought a smile to her face. "You do have a lot on your mind right now, do you not?"

Julia frowned slightly. "Ma told you?"

The man smiled, and shook his head. "She did not. But Miss Wilson is the Head of one of the companies we contract on a regular basis. 'Wilson Shipping & Freight' has proven to be reliable and discreet when we have a need for them. Rose is as shrewd a businessperson as her brother, although not as great a warrior. She often seeks to add to her cadre of bodyguards. You are an obvious choice. That is why _I_ passed your name along."

 _That_ brought her up short. " _..You?_ "

Dusan inclined his head once. "You need not be so surprised, dear niece. Talia is not the only one that cares for you here, Julia. She might have been the one that brought you into our family, but it was _you_ that proved worthy of that trust. _Worthy of being family._ "

"...O-Oh.." She cleared her throat, and forced the storm of emotions in her gut down. "...What...what would you do, in my position? Go with a woman of whom I only know a handful of things? Stay here and become a Shadow? Return to the man that values my murderer more than he values me?"

Dusan scratched his grin. "May i ask, how much of the world have you actually seen? How much have you travelled during your time with Batman and the Justice League?"

Julia's face went blank, an emotionless mask sliding swiftly into place. "...Bosnia was the first time I left America."

"Ah, I see...Take some advice from an old man." Dusan smiled kindly at her. "You have the chance to see the world. _Take it._ The world is often indescribably beautiful and strange. It may be a smaller place than it once was, but you are never complete until you find your place in it. Whether that is here with us or in Gotham or somewhere entirely new. _Go and find it,_ Julia Todd. You have more than earned the chance to do so."

* * *

**11:00**

**Arkham Asylum, Gotham, Connecticut**

**November 8th, 2015 AD.**

_It shouldn't be so easy to kill such a monster._

This thought was at the forefront of Nyssa al Ghul's mind as she hooked up the lethal concoction to the Joker's IV drip, the deranged clown already having been kept heavily sedated. The mix of morphine and toxins developed by the League would do the job that _Batman_ refused to. To anyone that wasn't Bruce Wayne and his little cabal, it would look like a bad reaction to the medicines or painkillers, there _might_ be an inquiry, but she doubted it. It was, after all, only the Joker.

On the plane journey over to Gotham, she had read the list of the creature's victims. All two thousand, three hundred and ninety-one of them. Each with their own stories, their own families, their own hopes and dreams, doomed to never be fulfilled. She had felt her heart damn near break as she reached the page with her niece's picture. The cold, clinical description of Julia's injuries steadily steeling her resolve to do what _needed_ to be done.

And a small part of her was filled with admiration. It hadn't been the beating, nor the explosion that had killed Julia Todd. It had been _smoke inhalation._ She wondered how Batman would feel, knowing the truth. Pride in her strength? Disappointment in her not surviving long enough to be saved? Sorrow in taking too long to save her?

This was not vengeance. This was justice. _Long overdue Justice._ Had the Wayne's been a League family, Joker would not have left Bosnia alive. He would have been subjected to each and every torture and agony he had inflicted on others and only then granted the mercy of death. Failing all that, he would have simply been killed. No fanfare. No last laugh. No chance to cheat death once again. Just simply killed and the remains burned to ash. Forgotten and unmourned.

Just like he deserved.

It had been _pathetically_ easy to slip into Arkham, even with her training. A white lab coat and a fake ID card was all it had taken to get her into the medical wing. No wonder it was seen as a 'revolving-door prison'. It really wouldn't surprise her if Batman alone believed it could actually help its inmates.

She let out a sigh, and made to leave. Being in _his_ presence was beginning to nauseate her, and every second she lingered left her exposed to discovery by Batman and his brood.

And _that_ would almost certainly lead to reprisal.

She was just about to reach the door, when someone walked in. Their eyes met and the Demon's daughter forced a neutral expression on her face as he began his protests.

"Who are you?" The man demanded. "There's no Doctor Raatko here."

Nyssa raised an eyebrow, and glanced back at the Joker's slumbering form, allowing a savage grin to cross her face. "...Oh, is that right?"

The doctor's eyes followed hers, and widened at the implications. After a few moments, he nodded.

"...Carry on Doctor Raatko." He said. "Far as I'm concerned, the bastard's finally getting what's coming to him."

_At least some people have sense._

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea when if ever I will continue this, but I am open to ideas.


End file.
